Mascot hypothesis

James Madison, an IU professor who teaches a class on Indiana history, has seen it all. He’s watched every attempted IU mascot—a guy in a cowboy hat, for example—falter and flop over the years.

One of the problems is that no one knows just what a Hoosier is.

“I think it’s very important that we disagree on what Hoosier means so that we continue to have this conversation.”

Point taken. Let’s continue.

If Madison could design a Hoosier mascot, he says he might pick the buffalo1, which is on the Indiana state seal. But he knows, too, that most animals are already taken by other schools.

“Whatever animal you come up with, you’re repeating, unless you come up with a mythical creature with an Indiana identity,” he says.

He’s got a better idea.

“How about a pork tenderloin sandwich? Is this a question to be serious about, or humorous about?”

We’d like to know, too. Whatever the IU mascot could be, it needs to be rooted in something specific to Indiana, he says.

“We’re the state school. Purdue can’t do it. They’ve got some godforsaken boilermaker.”